# SEO Competitor

> Shopify competitor gap analysis sub-skill. Identifies content gaps by comparing store coverage against competitor organic patterns using web search. Produces a gap table — not scored findings. Uses web search — results reflect publicly indexed pages at time of run. Use when user runs /seo competitor or when seo-audit delegates competitor checks.

- Skill: `karvedconcepts/seo-competitor` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add karvedconcepts/seo-competitor`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/karvedconcepts/seo-competitor/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Marketing & Growth
- Author: karvedconcepts (https://skillmd.com/u/karvedconcepts)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/karvedconcepts/seo-competitor

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# SEO Competitor Gap Analysis

Competitor gap analysis sub-skill for Shopify stores. Identifies keyword-level and content topic cluster gaps by comparing the store's content coverage against competitor organic patterns. Uses web search to infer what competitors target — no paid API required. This is a research companion skill — it does NOT produce PASS/FAIL findings or contribute to the SEO Health Score.

**Important:** Results reflect publicly indexed competitor pages at time of run — treat as directional signals, not audited inventories.

## Quick Reference

| Command | What it does |
|---------|-------------|
| `/seo competitor <url>` | Run competitor gap analysis against a Shopify store |
| (via seo-audit) | Receives crawl data from parent orchestrator |

## Context Intake

This skill is invoked by `seo-audit` or directly via `/seo competitor <url>`.

**When invoked by seo-audit:**
- Store URL and crawl data path are provided by the parent — do NOT re-ask
- Read `seo-audit-crawl.json` from the provided path
- Proceed directly to Execution Logic

**When invoked directly:**
- If store URL not provided, read `~/.claude/skills/seo/profiles/karved.json` and use preset
- Run `python3 ~/.claude/skills/seo/scripts/crawl_store.py <url>` to generate crawl data before proceeding
- Save output as `seo-audit-crawl.json` in the current directory
- Then proceed to Execution Logic

## Execution Logic

Execute these steps in order:

1. Read `seo-audit-crawl.json` from the provided path (or current directory if invoked standalone)
2. Load `~/.claude/skills/seo/references/benchmarks.md` — extract competitor names: Totally Promotional (totallypromotional.com), rushIMPRINT (rushimprint.com), Vistaprint (vistaprint.com)
3. Load `~/.claude/skills/seo/references/drinkware-keywords.md` — extract all keywords for cross-reference
4. Build a coverage map of the store: for each page in `seo-audit-crawl.json`, extract `title`, `h1`, and `meta_description` (case-insensitive). This determines what the store already covers. If `meta_description` is absent from crawl data, fall back to title + H1 only and note "meta_description field not available."
5. Run up to 5 web search queries to discover competitor content patterns:

| # | Query | Purpose |
|---|-------|---------|
| 1 | `site:totallypromotional.com custom tumblers` | Discover Totally Promotional's indexed tumbler pages and keyword targeting |
| 2 | `site:rushimprint.com drinkware` | Discover rushIMPRINT's drinkware category pages |
| 3 | `"promotional drinkware" site:vistaprint.com` | Discover Vistaprint's drinkware content coverage |
| 4 | `totallypromotional.com corporate gifts drinkware` | Content topic cluster discovery (broader results including guides/blogs) |
| 5 | `rushimprint.com "bulk order" tumblers guide` | Content depth discovery (FAQ, guide, comparison pages) |

6. From web search results, identify two types of gaps:

   **Keyword-Level Gaps:** Keywords from `drinkware-keywords.md` that appear in competitor search results (competitor page titles, snippets, or URLs) but are absent from the store's crawl data coverage map (not found in any page's title, h1, or meta_description via case-insensitive substring match).

   **Content Topic Cluster Gaps:** Content categories that competitors have but the store lacks. Infer these from competitor page titles, URLs, and snippets in the search results. Examples: "corporate gifting guide", "bulk order FAQ", "how UV printing works", "design template library", "size comparison guide for tumblers". These are content types, not individual keywords.

7. Assign **Priority** based on how many of the 3 competitors cover the topic/term:
   - 3/3 competitors cover it: **High** priority
   - 2/3 competitors cover it: **Medium** priority
   - 1/3 competitor covers it: **Low** priority

8. Write output to `seo-competitor-gaps.md` in the current directory

**Note:** Web search results reflect publicly indexed competitor pages at time of run — treat as directional signals, not audited inventories. Competitor content changes frequently; re-run periodically for updated signals.

## Output Format

Write findings to `seo-competitor-gaps.md` in the current directory using this format. The output file name is always `seo-competitor-gaps.md`.

```
# Competitor Content Gaps

**Store:** {store_url}
**Date:** {audit_date}
**Competitors checked:** Totally Promotional (totallypromotional.com), rushIMPRINT (rushimprint.com), Vistaprint (vistaprint.com)
**Web search queries run:** {list the queries executed}

> Results reflect publicly indexed competitor pages at time of run — treat as directional signals, not audited inventories.

## Keyword-Level Gaps

Keywords from drinkware-keywords.md that competitors target but the store does not cover in title, H1, or meta description.

| Keyword / Term | Competitors Cover It | Store Covers It | Priority |
|----------------|---------------------|-----------------|----------|
| bulk custom tumblers | TP, rushIMPRINT, Vistaprint | No | High |
| corporate gifting drinkware | TP, rushIMPRINT | No | Medium |
| custom tumbler minimum order | rushIMPRINT | No | Low |

## Content Topic Cluster Gaps

Content categories that competitors have but the store lacks — inferred from competitor page structure via web search.

| Topic Cluster | Competitors Cover It | Store Covers It | Priority |
|---------------|---------------------|-----------------|----------|
| Bulk order FAQ / how bulk ordering works | TP, rushIMPRINT, Vistaprint | No | High |
| Corporate gifting guide | TP, rushIMPRINT | No | Medium |
| Design template library | rushIMPRINT | No | Low |

## Summary

**Total:** {N} keyword gaps ({X} High, {Y} Medium, {Z} Low). {M} topic cluster gaps ({A} High, {B} Medium, {C} Low).

> Coverage check: keyword appears in title, H1, or meta description of any store page (case-insensitive substring match).
> Priority based on number of competitors covering the topic: 3/3 = High, 2/3 = Medium, 1/3 = Low.
```

**IMPORTANT:** Do NOT include a score line. This is a research companion skill that surfaces gaps — it does not produce scored findings and does not contribute to the SEO Health Score. The output file `seo-competitor-gaps.md` is consumed by `seo-audit` Step 7 for the Opportunities section only.

## Quality Gates

This skill inherits quality gates from `seo/SKILL.md` by reference. No quality gate enforcement is needed — this skill produces gap tables, not PASS/WARNING/FAIL findings. The quality gates apply to audit skills only.

## Reference Files

Load these on-demand as needed — do NOT load all at startup.

**Path resolution:** All references are installed at `~/.claude/skills/seo/references/`.

- `references/benchmarks.md` — Required: competitor names (Totally Promotional, rushIMPRINT, Vistaprint) and organic CTR benchmarks for context
- `references/drinkware-keywords.md` — Required: keyword list for cross-reference against competitor coverage. Section membership indicates keyword tier for prioritization context.